Russell Drysdale and "The Walls of China"

Piers – We made an art piece that was from the olden days. It was a desert background with a couple of trees.
Lochie – We did art and made our own abstract version of Russell Drysdale's Walls of China.
Tia – We made art pieces that was based on an olden times artist and his art pieces. For us it was new and creative.
Cooper T – We did an art piece created with tissue paper and normal white paper. We layered the tissue paper on to the white paper. It created a “Wall of China” art piece, originally created by Russell Drysdale.
James – We created art using tissue paper which gave the effect of sand and the colours of the desert.
Jackson – It was very abstract in a way, but fun to do and interesting.

Immigration Museum

Tully – I think was a great learning experience because we got to learn about immigration and the different things involved. I also think it will be a primary knowledge source for later in the term. I feel more confident about our inquiry unit now which is History. I connected with some of my family’s stories that are similar to the ones at the museum.

Piers – I think that yesterday was one of the best learning experiences ever! Here is why: We were split up into 3 tasks so it wouldn’t overload our brains with all the information at once, everything we read was easy to understand. When I saw the video with the man on the tram it made me question racism because why do we have to do this to black people? We are all the same inside.
Natalie – We went to the Immigration Museum to learn more about racism and migration, and what causes them. The Immigration Museum was good because I could connect to how those people felt about moving to Australia and how they might have felt. I learnt more about how people can be racist and how other people feel about and what we should do when someone’s being racist

Jenny – I thought it was a good excursion as we got to see the Yarra River and when we got inside the Immigration Museum we went to a place that looked like a tram and showed how people deal with racism. This man walked on to the tram and a man moved over for him to sit down but the man would not sit down because he had black skin and he had white skin which is rude and racist then the man who had black skins phone rang and the rude white man said can you keep it down so a lady stood up and sat next to the man with black skin. To me I found what the white man did was rude and cruel but the girl who moved showed respect and dignity.

Natasha - I felt disgusted when I watched a video of a man being nice, who moved over for another man but the man refused because the other man was different and he was being racist so the lady who was watching sat next to the man and the rude man left.
Zach – It was interesting how we learnt about the historical immigration objects that were used then and now. I also learnt about racism and that you shouldn't be racist. I thought today was a successful excursion, as we could split the classes into different sections. I learnt that most people who are teased is caused by racism and that migration is the same as refugees.

James – I thought the tour of Melbourne was a great way to learn things because we could travel around and learn things, not just in pictures.

Natalia – Our excursion to the immigration museum was very interesting. It was quite confronting when we saw a few homeless people, living under a bridge. We were freezing cold at ten o'clock in the morning. How would we manage sleeping all night there, it was probably the temperature was probably sub zero. I thought of the early settlers and the gold miners, they probably slept in similar conditions. They slept in tents or under the open sky when they first started living in Australia. I really enjoyed the remake of the ship that migrants would have gone on. It was helpful to imagine what it would have been like to travel to Australia, in the 1850’s to the 1950’s

Lochie- I thought the excursion was good because when we went around Melbourne we saw where the ships would have come. I thought how crazy it was how America had two different drinking taps because of racism.
Oliver - We watched a video about an African man on the bus and an angry white guy named Rob, rejected his offer to sit down and told the African man to be quiet when he wasn't even loud, then a lady called Susan stood up and sat next to the African man and Rob crushed a can in an aggressive way. It was a good example of some racist situations on public transport.

Cooper T - I enjoyed the excursion because I thought that all the exhibitions told stories. Each of the stories meant something, I think that all the stories had a meaning to someone. The story that meant the most to me was the tram, because my family are very loud and they always get told to be quiet, I thought this excursion was a very factual excursion

Jessica - I thought it was nice of Sue to stand up for the man on the tram, and I was surprised how much the City changed from the past till now.

Ava M - At the Immigration Museum my class first went to explore around the museum and around the city near the museum. I learnt from doing that, that we didn't have certain buildings and shops and restaurants. Next we went and learnt about different people coming to Australia and I learnt a lot and had fun.

Cooper M - I think it was a really good day yesterday, I connected to when there was a tram room and there was people reactions to someone not sitting next to someone else because, they were from a different race. I connected to that because that happens in our every day lives.

Pat - On Monday we went to the Immigration museum. There was lots of things to do like walking to the Yarra river and making a book about the history around the Yarra river and collins st. I thought that is was a great way to learn about immigration and migrants. it was better than sitting on the floor and watching a news report on the immigration Museum. There was one thing that was meant to be inside a tram and you were watching a video on a guy called Rob being racist to an African man then after the video we got to hear about their feelings. In the last thing we went into was a thing called leaving home I thought is was good because there was a ship that had bed and kitchen it showed you what it used to be like on a immigration ship it also showed you what animals migrated to Australia.

Tom - I feel that the Immigration Museum was a really good experience. I particularly connected with the timeline that wrapped around the room because it was really in depth and it showed how people thought of the migrants and how their attitude improved. This got me thinking that our attitude has been slightly improving, until now because we’ve dropped our standards once more.

Isabella - I connected with when we went into the fake tram, there was a guy who was just minding his own business and then another person came on and would not sit next to him because he had a different skin colour. Then another women moved and sat next to him. I then got to see what each person was thinking, I couldn’t believe the way some people think and something as small as that video is enough to make you think. Usually someone would consider it not a big deal but if it were to happen to you, you would have a completely different perspective.

Tia - The Immigration Museum was a fantastic experience and had some truly amazing facts about Australia's history. But the thing I connected to most was the video about migrants emotions and their reasons for migrating, because I have been a migrant and I can imagine their feelings and feel them as my own.

Madison - I think that the Immigration Museum really opened a door about Aussie history and it had great explanation in the Passport Exhibition, the Identity Exhibition and the Heritage tour. It not only shared History but also showed the effects of Racism. I really enjoyed this excursion and my favourite part of the Museum was when we went in this massive life size boat model that we got to go in and see what it was like of the first fleet ship.

Adam Goodes and racism

Today, we read this cartoon in class:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/29/why-do-you-boo-adam-goodes-is-it-because-


Here are our opinions on the situation:
I see why he got upset as she was being racist but he did make a big deal over it but if you are going to join football you have to be ready to face that not every body loves you. Some people are going to boo, but they might only boo cause they're going for another team. I don't know much about it all. But maybe the crowd should keep some of their opinions to their self. They could hurt or upset someone, but he just has to move on or people are going to be annoyed which is what happened. He should be able to get over it because lots of other people can move on.

Well I think that people are being racist to him, but I don’t think that he should quit, because lots of people be racist to other countries, and I think that he did take it a little bit too seriously, and that he should just don't worry about it that much, and he should just ignore the people that are being racist to him.
My opinion is that he should not be racially offended by all the goings on in the news lately and booing. This should just be forgotten and we should move on. Majority of the crowd is not racist, so I think he should just let it go. He is a really good role model but now, I think its gone.

Adam Goodes should not be reacting to racism because he is just causing more people to make him annoyed. He gets angry because of people being racist but if he ignores it people will stop. He is getting picked on just because he is Aboriginal and he has a dark skin colour.
I don’t know why the pale people be racist to the darker people just because they are different. To me the Aboriginals were the first people here so why are we being racist to them if it is mainly their land. People should stop being racist and just get along and if you can’t get along get out of the country. Why do we have to be racist? It doesn't make a difference to anything. 
To me I don’t know the point if you be racist and Adam Goodes should just keep on playing without a single mean or racist thing shouted at him.
In my opinion, Adam Goodes is over reacting and the more you over react, the worse it will get. Booing is a part of footy and everyone will get booed one day. Booing is usually just because people are trying to put the other team off when they are booing them. With Adam Goodes, I think they are only doing it because they know that he will react and get really angry and worked up. But I still
think that it was no it’s deal that he did the war dance because he is obviously a proud indigenous man. But I don’t think that people are booing him because of that.

In my opinion, yes some of the comments people have made are racist and would offend him but when you go into AFL these things are going to happen. The probably shouldn’t but they are, a lot of people are not nice and don’t care of others feelings. Many football players and soccer players and all different people who play sport have had rude comments but they don’t just take it personally and decide or consider to quit they stay strong and keep going. I see where he is coming from and why he has considered to quit but whenever someone makes a comment he takes it as a racist comment when sometimes it isn’t. If you were to think about if an aboriginal person booed a white football nobody would consider it a racist comment.
Adam Goodes is making a very big fuss about this situation, the best advice I would give him is that he should just ignore it because I think most of the people are just trying to annoy him. If he were to ignore it people would see that he is not bothered by it and will stop. If they don’t and they might not he should keep it little and not make a big thing and keep doing what he loves, football. It seems like he wants to get heaps of attention which is what he is getting.

Ok why do we have to boo Adam goods? HE IS JUST LIKE US?! Is it because he is black or aboriginal? Is it because you just hate black people? IS IT BECAUSE THAT HE IS A BAD PLAYER?! Well if you said yes to any of those then you are racist! Who the hell cares if he is black and who cares if we are white? We are all the same inside. We can get along. But if you are hating because you are just a Professional boo-er then you can do what you want i don’t care! You boo at 50 white and a few black! That's fine. BUT REALLY?! Adam Goodes is an awesome football player! Is it because he did the war dance? Someone said to him in a game “Go back to a zoo you ape!” THAT IS RACIST! SOME APES ARE BLACK! SOME ARE ORANGE AND SOME ARE OTHER COLOURS. YOU DON'T CALL SOMEONE A GORILLA BECAUSE THEY ARE BLACK! WE CAN ALL GET ALONG! Everyone is talking about this! AFL even say if you boo Adam goodes you are racist! You are only racist if you say “GET OFF THE GAME YOU BLACK PERSON!” That is %100 racist. He is a footballer. He will not always go with YOUR opinion. He won’t quit just because people are booing him. To have a big job you know what you need? Haters! What success do you have if you have haters to bring you down and the courage to bring yourself back up then my friend, you have successfully become a great man. As I have said earlier we should all just get along so then we wont have to WORRY about this problem about arguing. Why do you even boo him because he is black? Do you hate black people? Are you just trying to get attention? Oh well. Many opinions are different such as: “He just wants attention” if he wants attention then he can just go do something else. He would try to get the best goal. Not be all “boo hoo” about 1 hater turning into 10000! OMG!

Are people being racist towards Adam Goodes and Aboriginal people? No, People are just Booing Adam Goodes because be is a big sook. If you want to play any sport you will have to be able to take this and racist comments and booing. If you want it to stop play as you would like and do NOT pay any attention to the crowd. Most people are booing because all the other people are booing. Don’t keep talking about it 2 years later address it to the AFL committee and say “can you please help me I'm getting booed every me and every so often people are yelling out racist comments.” Don’t just quit football because people are booing. Like I said before, go out there and face it. Don't hide it will make it worse.

Adam Goodes takes everything too seriously. Anything racist he thinks it is targeted at him. Other Indigenous players get booed, but they don't take it as seriously as Adam Goodes. People still need to stop being racist, but Adam Goodes needs to stop taking everything so serious and get back to the game of footy. Stop being racist and Adam Goodes just stop.

I think Adam Goodes sometime takes things the wrong way and when he hears something he thinks it’s racist and he stops the game because he has been called a name and he says it out loud and wants the crowed to feel sorry for him but instead the crowed just boooo at him. Sometimes I think he wants to show off and he thinks he is the best in A.F.L and sometimes that's why people don't like him.

In my opinion I think that booing someone at a game is really rude, not only is it disrespectful but you are humiliating them but also hurting them. In this case with Adam Goodes I don’t really think its just Racism, it could be the racism, it could be about stuff he did years ago or it could just be plain hate. Either way booing someone just isn't fair, Adam Goodes or not, you shouldn't boo people. Booing someone at a game in front of millions of fans is a form of bullying. Bullying is not cool so don't do it.

I think that Adam Goodes can take things a bit too seriously. People might BOO at him but they just might do that because he on the opposite team or because the people just don’t like him. I’m pretty sure that what the girl said last year was racist. Overall he is still a great footballer and a good person.

If you go to an Aussie Rules Football game, or watch it at home, it’s unheard of for there not to be any booing. People boo the other team, especially when they score a goal or a point. But is it racist if you boo a team with a player of a different race to you? Is that player being a sook if they go on extended leave after that? Should you be punished for booing?
These days we call a lot of things racist, but what is the definition of racist?

 

Do you agree/disagree? What is your opinion?

Sovereign Hill: A journey back in time

On Friday, we left school very early to make our way to the historic village of Sovereign Hill, in Ballarat.
Sovereign Hill is set on an original 2 acres of gold fields. It teaches students and teachers about the history of Australia and it shows the way life was lived at that time in a very in depth way - Tia
It was a very long trip to SH and once we got there we were all very excited to explore the gold fields and to go through all the facts and to learn more about the Eureka Stockade and about the gold rush - Cooper T.
We did many fun things like learning about Australian History with a guy called Chris. We also went to the mines and we went to the lolly shop. Some things I learnt were that they goats there, because they used those animals to make food. I also learnt that you could melt quartz and put it in a mould and cool it down and it helped to make a bar of gold - James.
I found that this excursion was really fun and interesting because we learnt about Australian History. We also did gold panning and we watched a man melt gold and mould it into a brick. We got into groups of 3 and put on a costume and told the rest of the group about who that person was -Isabella
SH was fun because learnt about Australian's History through being shown what it was like during the gold rush in Victoria. My favourite was going gold panning and I found some gold - Natalie

Our Hopes and Dreams for Term 3

Inspired by the New York City Hopes and Dreams wall, that is unleashed like a rain of confetti over the city every New Years Eve, Senior S created their own wall to reflect their predominantly learning-based goals for this term. 

Have you seen walls like this before? What impact do you think they have on the people who read them and the people who write (and share) their wishes)?

Reflecting on term 2

The Seniors reflected on their term through their student blogs, which can be accessed at these links:
Ava G
Ava M
Cooper T
Cooper M
Isabella
Jackson
James
Jenny
Jessica
Tom
Lachlan
Madison
Natalie
Natasha
Natalia
Oliver
Piers
Tia
Patrick
Tully
Will
Zach

Reflecting on the Sacrament of Confirmation

Cooper - I felt good about helping the other seniors go through the sacrament of Confirmation and helping them through them. I liked supporting them and joining in with them and also helping them set up. Also I thought it was fun and very special to be included in their time of confirmation.

Tully -

I feel Confirmation has made me 100% apart of the holy family and it was very special. My sponsor was proud of me and my Parents 😃 .

Patrick - I did confirmation on the Friday it went for 2 hours but is was good. My saints name Is Thomas the Apostle I choose Thomas because its my grandads name I felt happy and excited. The lead up to confirmation was long but we did some good things along the way. a couple of weeks ago we went to a retreat day.

Jenny's

I felt that it was very big step in life also important and I won't forget it and all my family came and my

sponsor said that she had a very good time. Before confirmation I was scared that I would stuff up my reading or skip a line or worse  laugh, but I didn't so that was a relief. After confirmation all my family came and had a great time they also met Grace which was fun!!

Ava G - Before I had my Confirmation I was  a little scared. I was feeling better when the bishop talked to us on sunday. I felt like Confirmation is a big step in life, I also felt very happy after my reading because I thought I was going to stuff up! I learnt a lot about the fruits of the spirit and I had lots of fun!!!

Natasha- I thought confirmation was a great experience in life. I was a bit nerves and then i felt calm afterwards near the end and we all got a certificate. I learnt a lot about the fruits of the spirit and what confirmation is and it was a great night.

  

Natalia -  I thought that confirmation was a memorable experience, I was extremely nervous before Mass but later I felt very relaxed. It was very important to me. I really enjoyed reading.

Zac-I thought Confirmation was an awesome it was a fun time to explore the wonder of God, I thought it was a good experience and when I got Confirmed I felt so happy. It was a fun time with bishop marks and the priests, I had a good time with my sponsor and was happy to be confirmed. When I got confirmed it was such a good feeling to be  another step to God and Jesus. After the Confirmation we got our certificate and we all lined up to show everyone in the church. I was so happy after to be near to god and the bishop confirmed me with my sponsors hand on my shoulder and the holy oil onto my skin.

Jackson - Confirmation was great! It all happened Friday. I was not really nervous, more excited. I started to get nervous a bit when Bishop Marks came in because he looked like he was going to ask a hard question. Beside that it was exciting. I was happy when I got confirmed and we got a certificate, but then I had to read the Prayers of the Faithful. It went better than expected, which was a good thing. Confirmation is like taking a step forward towards Jesus. I did also get pretty tired because it went for 2 hours. Then to top it off the Bishop asked, ‘How do you spell auxiliary?’ Thankfully I knew how to spell it.

It was a awesome night!
 

Ava.M-I thought that confirmation was good and it was really fun it also made me think more about god than the actual confirmation and for learning about justice for inquiry was also really fun it was also fun preparing for confirmation and.

Tom: After Confirmation I felt that I was set on the right path to becoming a better person. The confirmation itself was great. Having bishop Mark Edwards there was great and it made the mass feel a lot more holy and he was great at making the confirmation special. I was nervous at the confirmation but I was also expectant and eager. The lead-up to confirmation was also really fun but it was very spiritual as we prepared for our sacrament

Overall confirmation was great.

Isabella: Before confirmation I was a little nervous but the bishop was really nice and friendly so I felt Okay during it. I was on Sunday it went on for an hour and a half and the bishop called  me up to spell auxiliary, luckily I spelled it right! I think that all the preparation was really worth it and it was a very special day. My sponsor was my grandma and it was a fun and exciting day.

Tia  - Instead of being confirmed I had a special blessing, but preparing for confirmation really linked in with our justice topics and issues. Looking at justice issues really helped everyone look at how they can be better people in today’s world, which has a lot of issues. During the special blessing I was really quite nervous, I had no idea of what was going to happen. But I really enjoyed sitting with and singing with the choir. My least favourite part was standing up at the front holding the candle for the Prayer of the Faithful for Wonder and Awe. It was so unnerving seeing all of those eyes looking up and expecting a fabulous mass. Overall it was amazing and everyone looked really prepared. I am now learning how to use the gifts of Wisdom and Courage properly. I had a great time on Friday watching “The Ritual of Humiliation” or when Bishop Mark Edwards was asking people questions about the different sacraments.
 

Natalie:I thought that making my confirmation really brought me closer to God and that the auxiliary bishop was so nice and my mom said to me after I made it that my confirmation reminded her of hers.

Jessica-I didn’t make my confirmation, so I prepared with the people that did, I thought it was great to help people and do the things that the people did make, and it was fun to learn about my hero that I did, and I enjoyed to make the poster, and I liked drawing the person that I did too.

Madi- I didn’t make confirmation but I had a special blessing on Friday, even though I didn't get confirmed I had the privilege to research a saint which was Saint Magdalene. I do have to say that Bishop Mark was really reassuring and nice, he prayed for us before the mass. I wasn’t sure what time I was supposed to go up for my blessing so I was super nervous, but I think I did really well and so did everyone else.

Bobby/James- I made confirmation on Friday I  chose my saint to be Saint Roch the mass was 2 hours. I did one reading which was the penitential rite which was the second reading in the mass which made me a little nervous, After the mass I had some guests over

WILL

Preparing for confirmation was very fun because I enjoyed making the posters with the icons because I learnt a lot about Adam Goodes and why he is a hero.

Cooper M

I thought that confirmation was good because we all received the sacrament of confirmation and received all the gifts wisdom, right judgement, wonder and awe, understanding, courage, reverence and knowledge so now we all have these gifts. we all studied a saint to chose as our saint name and research them. It was a great experience to

receive confirmation.

Lochie

preparing for confirmation was fun I liked making the poster and I learnt a lot about not just my saint but other saints as well as other saints. We learnt about the gifts and fruits of the holy spirit. I did it on Sunday and my sponsor was my uncle and my saint was St Anthony of Padua.